THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
igi 
FOR PEACH TREE BORERS 
Hundreds of growers of peach trees in this State are now 
asking what to do for the Peach-tree borer which is regarded 
as one of the very worst pests of these trees. A prominent 
grower in Central Pennsylvania wrote to State Zoologist 
H. A. Surface, at Harrisburg, asking for information as to the 
best treatment to prevent future attacks of his trees by the 
borer. He received a re])ly instructing him to prepare the 
lime-sulfur solution by boiling together one pound of lime 
and tw'o pounds of sulfur with each gallon of water, and apply 
it as a spray or wash around the base of each tree. The direc¬ 
tions were as follows: 
“You must api^ly the lime-sulfur solution at least once per 
month during the middle of each month of June, July and 
August, and possibly also September. One treatment is not 
enough. I have tried this and know for certainty about it 
from personal experience. 
“The way I do is to make the application of lime-sulfur 
solution strong, the same as for San Jose scale, but with some 
sediment present, putting it on with brushes, or with the 
spray pump with the cap removed from the nozzle. Do this 
about the middle of June, after having removed the earth 
from around the tmnk of the tree wdth a hoe, making a little 
ditch or groove around the base of the tree. Just as soon as 
this is dry I replace the earth, mounding it up to one-half foot 
or more. I always make the application one foot or more 
above the ground. The next time leave the earth mounded, 
and make it so that the solution will be pretty sure to pene¬ 
trate the top of this mound. Use plenty. One pint to one 
quart to a tree is not too much if the tree is large. On small 
trees one-half pint may be enough. Also, add about one 
ounce of arsenate of lead for each gallon of this material, 
which is practically three pounds to fifty gallons.”—Prof. 
H. A. Surface in the Zoological Press Bulletin. 
SUMMER SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE 
A bulletin has been issued by the Extension Service of the 
Massachusetts Agricultural College descriptive of the sixth 
annual Summer School of Agriculture and Country Life, 
July 1-29. Extended courses will be offered for the benefit 
of the many people who wish a general knowledge of theoreti¬ 
cal and practical agriculture and who can come to the College 
conveniently during the summer season. vSpecial attention 
will also be given to the needs of teachers. 
The courses to be offered this summer will include practical 
agriculture and horticulture, elementary sciences, agricultural 
education, agricultural economics, domestic economy and 
household science, organized play and recreation, and a group 
of courses arranged especially for rural social workers. 
Amherst is acknowledged to be one of the most delightful 
towns in New England, noted both for its natural scenic 
beauties and because it is an educational center. Expenses 
are very low. 
Write for bulletin to Professor W. D. Hurd, Amherst, 
Mass. 
Jackson & Hassman of Dansville, New York, have dis¬ 
solved partnership, Mr. Jackson continuing the business 
under his own name. 
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 
For a number of years great efforts have been made in 
Australia and on the American Continent to bring into 
operation one of Nature’s balancing laws. It has been 
known for generations that the reason why any particular 
animal pest has not increased sufficiently to destroy its 
]Darticular food plant has been that, to ufee an old ai)horism, 
there has always been one bug to bite another, not always a 
bigger bug, but, perhaps, a little one; often a little in.sidious 
chap has laid low a very much larger insect. Large sums of 
money have been spent with more or less success in order to 
introduce into some countries the i 3 articular enemies of the 
Codlin Moth. Scientific men, are, however, now turning 
their attention to the destruetion of animal pests by vegetable 
growths. Almost everyone who has made a study at all of 
these questions knows that the late fiy, which is found hang¬ 
ing, or seemingly sitting, on the wall-paper in a dwelling- 
house, is there because it has been attacked by an exceedingly 
minute fungus. We have often had in our laboratory, from 
India and other tropical countries, specimens of coffee, 
rubber, etc., covered with scale insects, which in almost every 
case, have been the victims of exceedingly minute fungus. 
Were it not for this law working in some of our coffee planta¬ 
tions undoubtedly the coffee plant would be entirely blotted 
out. So long as the atmospheric conditions are dry the scale 
flourishes and increases unhindered, but immediately the 
season comes along when the air is full of humidity then the 
spores of this exceedingly minute fungus spring into life and 
attack the scale and so hold the balance. Scientific men 
taking hold of this object lesson of Nature are turning their 
attention to the artificial use of these vegetable organisms 
(the minute fungus) in order to clear out the animal (or insect 
if you like) pests of the grower. 
One of the most hopeful moves along this line is reported 
by M. Leopold le Moult “On the Destruction of Certain 
Hemiptera (Bugs and Aphides) by Vegetable Parasites,” 
which appeared in the weekly reports of the sittings of 
L’Academie des Sciences, Paris, Oct. 7, 1912. The aim of the 
author has been to show that various bugs and aphis can be 
destroyed in the manner we have outlined. The experiments 
were carried out at Nievre (France). Certain bugs affecting 
cabbages were infected artificially with a culture of Sporotri- 
chum globuliferum. Many were destroyed after five days’ 
infection, and all were dead on the loth day. Perhaps the 
experiments which will interest fruit growers more than any 
other were trials made to destroy the woolly aphis (Schizo- 
neura langiera), a pest which every apjjle grower in this 
country knows only too well, and which is capable of working 
enormous damage among young trees especially. During 
Sept., 1911, cultures were made of Sporotrichum globuliferum 
and Botrytis bassiana. Two rows of cordon apples, which 
were separated one from another by 80 yds., were dealt with. 
The cultures were mixed in w'ater and the trees were sprayed 
with the spores; one row was sprayed with the Sporotrichum 
and the other with Botrytis. At the foot of each tree small 
pieces of the culture were inserted in the soil, with the idea of 
destroying root forms. The experiments were carried out on 
two separate estates, and it is stated that on none of the 
treated trees did woolly aphis reappear. Should this treat- 
